Who – August 10, 2019

PROFILE

he’sjoyful.InMay,therewasspeculation

JohnsonhadfoundlovewithConnie’sbest

friend,EmmaRooke,afterheposteda photo

ofEmmaonInstagramwiththecaption:

“Thiskoalamakeseverythingwithme.We

havebuiltsomeunusualdreamstogether

overmanyyears.Withoutherheartand

brain,mydreamswouldremainjustthat.

Thanksforbuildingallthethingswithme

littlemisskoala.I hopetobuildonemore,

asalways,butasweknow,it’snotuptous.”

Addressinghisrumouredromancewith

closefriendRooke,whoisalsoa LYSteam

member,forthefirsttimesincethepost,

Johnsonsays:“I’vebeentooscaredtobein

anotherrelationshipsincemygirlfrienddied

13 yearsago.”Inearly2006,hisformer

girlfriendLainieWoodlandstookherown

lifehoursafterhebrokeupwithher.“I’m

luckytohavegoodfriendsaroundme,”

Johnsonadds.

Beingontheroadhasmeant

Johnsonhasn’tbeenabletosee

Connie’schildren,Willoughby

andHamilton,asmuchashe

wouldlike.Butitseems

Willoughbyistakingafter

hisunclewhenitcomesto

fundraising.“Heraised$1000athisschool

thisyear,sohewantedtoknowwhetherhis

mumwouldbeproudofhim,”Johnsonsays.

Certainly,shewould.AndConniewould

undoubtedlybethrilledtoseethepathher

brotherhasblazed.“Conniewouldbeproud

ofthefactthatI didn’tstopwhenshedied,”

hesays.“Therewaspartofherthatthought

I’dstopandthatmaybeI wasjustdoing it for

her.Andmaybethatwastrueatthe start. But

I thinkshewouldhavereallyloved Dancing

withtheStarsandtheworkI’mdoing to

followitup.”

Hehasn’tquitehunguphisdancing boots,

bytheway.“I’mgettingtaplessonsin every

townI goto,”hesays.“WhatI docan’t just be

aboutthecancer,otherwise it’s too

sad.So,I’mconstantlylooking for

waystokeepitcheerful.”

Johnsonsayshissister would

beinterestedtoseeherecently

knockedbacka coupleof “really

big ”actingjobsinfavour of his

currentroadtrip.“Iturneddowna cracker

rolewithCateBlanchett,”hereveals. But he

doesn’tregretthepathhe’schosen. “I’ve had

momentsinmylifewhereI’vebeen pretty

f---edup,”headmits.“IthinkI’vejust made

enoughgooddecisionsoverthelast few

yearsforlifetohavebecomethoroughly

wonderful.It’sprettyhardtofeeldown in

the dumps when you’ve

got people everywhere

lifting you up. As Connie

said, this is bigger than us.

So I enjoy chasing the

bigger things because it

makes my own issues

seem so much smaller.”

Johnson has spoken

previously about his battle

with drug addiction. But

he certainly doesn’t blame

showbiz for luring him

down dark alleys. “I found

my drugs and my problems

in life, not in showbiz,” he

says. “It’s not like I got

sucked into showbiz and

they were shoving cocaine in

my face. I was going to find

that stuff anyway. Showbiz is

not to blame for the mistakes

I’ve made as a kid.

“In fact, generally

speaking, the people in

showbiz tried to put the

brakes on me and tried

to look after me.”

Johnson is nothing if not

brutally honest when he

says he struggles with

various temptations to this

day. “I’m not going to run

some redemptive story line

for you,” he says. “I would

say I’ve got a handle on my

s--t these days. I have had

two hangovers this week

and that’s a lot for me. But there are gateways

everywhere you look.”

Never one to be idle, Johnson has also

edited a book, Dear Dad, a follow-up to his

successful Dear Santa. The new book is

a collection of letters from celebrities –

including singer Shannon Noll, cricketer

Steve Waugh and Johnson’s sister Hilde –

to their fathers. Johnson has written one

for his dad, who passed away 10 years ago.

“He fostered many wonderful things in me,

including my curiosity, and I’m forever

grateful,” Johnson says of his dad. “He was

my wizard. And he was a wise man.”

Johnson has had more than his share of

pain in his life. Johnson’s mother also died

by suicide when he was a toddler. Meeting

people, he invites them to share their pain

with him. “I’ve found my role in life,” he

smiles. “It’s the perfect role and I play it with

so much passion. And it’s real for me.”

■ By Stephen Downie

If you or someone you know needs help,

contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

AnInstagramselfieof

Samuel,Connie(centre)

andRooke.

JohnsonholdstheDancing

withtheStarsmirrorballtrophy

withdancepartnerJorja

Freeman,afterwinningthe

competitioninAprilthisyear.

Connie, pictured with Samuel,

died after a long battle with

cancer in September 2017.

JOHNSON WEARS: ZARA T-SHIRT; PARK/HALLENSTEIN

BROTHERS DENIM JEANS; HAVAIANAS THONGS; INSTAGRAM (3)
“What I do

can’t just

be about

the cancer”

6 l Who